Chevron's joint ventures in Venezuela plan to invest more than US$7 billion over the next five years, following new agreements that expand the company's acreage and set updated terms for its operations in the country.
The agreements support plans to more than double production across the joint ventures to approximately 600,000 barrels per day, compared with 2026 levels, Chevron said. Total costs are expected to remain below US$20 per barrel.
Revised fiscal, commercial and legal terms apply to the Venezuelan joint ventures, and additional acreage in the Orinoco Belt has been assigned under the agreements. Petroindependencia, in which a Chevron subsidiary holds a 49% interest, has received rights to develop the adjacent Carabobo-1 and Carabobo-2-South-A areas. That acreage expands the joint venture's position in the belt, where it produces extra-heavy crude.
The award follows an April agreement that increased Chevron's working interest in Petroindependencia to 49% and gave the company rights to develop Ayacucho 8, an area next to the Petropiar joint venture.
Production across the three Venezuelan joint ventures has increased 15% since the start of the year, according to Chevron. The company participates in Petroindependencia and Petropiar in the Orinoco Belt, as well as Petroboscan in western Venezuela's Zulia State, and has operated in the country since 1923.
Chevron Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Mike Wirth said the additional acreage and revised terms support further investment in Venezuela's oil resources.
Reuters reported that the Chevron agreements form part of a wider series of energy deals being advanced in Venezuela, with other international companies also pursuing new or expanded projects.